Alsip Man Charged With Kidnapping, Strangling Girlfriend

OAK LAWN, IL -- An Alsip man strangled and twice grabbed his girlfriend as she tried to escape during a heated argument inside an automobile on Thursday afternoon, prosecutors said. Michael Nelson, 24, appeared before Cook County Judge Donald Havis on felony charges of aggravated domestic battery with strangulation and kidnapping. Bail was set at $100,000.

According to the charges, Nelson had met his girlfriend in Burbank and then drove to Oak Lawn to talk around 4 p.m. After the couple parked in the 9100 block of South Kenton Avenue, Nelson grew increasingly angry as he criticized the woman for letting her brother walk all over her. Nelson allegedly grabbed the woman and choked her. The prosecutor said the woman was able to get out of the car and ran down the sidewalk screaming for help.

Nelson ran after her and grabbed her from behind, the prosecutor said. He allegedly put his hand over mouth to muffle her screams, then forcibly dragged her back to the car. Oak Lawn police officers responding to a report of a fight said that Nelson threw the woman into the back seat where she was able to escape a second time. The woman clung to a chain link fence when Nelson is said to have forced her fingers off the fence, then dragged her back to the car.

Witnesses who saw the fight told police that Nelson fled before officers arrived, the prosecutor said. The woman gave a description of the vehicle to police, who located both the vehicle and Nelson in the Green Oaks Place at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue. Nelson was taken into custody without incident. Police said the woman was battered and bruised, with scratches on her fingers and swelling to her neck.

The assistant public defender told the judge the victim’s name was not on the criminal complaint, nor did the arresting officer’s name appear. The attorney further stated that Nelson lived with his family and was active in his church.

The prosecutor said that Nelson has prior arrests for resisting arrest. Bail was set at $100,000. He is not allowed to contact the woman. Nelson is due back in court Oct. 2 in Bridgeview.